"Let's start this off simple, what do you do for a living?" Kira asked, leaning forward slightly, pen and paper in hand.
Ari took a deep breath, trying to stop herself from shaking.
"I-I'm an artist... a painter to be more s-specific." She managed to get out, her voice wavering a bit.
Kira nodded, quickly jotting it down.
"What was your relations to the victim? Why'd you decide to come to this party tonight?"
"I didn't really have any real relations with him. He came in to 'buy' my art a lot, but looking back he scammed me a lot. I just knew him from the few times he'd shown up in person to view my painting."
Kira raised an eyebrow, "What so you mean 'scammed'? Elaborate on that first."
"Well, either he'd come in or one of his guys would come in. There would always be at least two. They'd always be pleasant at first and seem genuinely interested, but then would make it look like damage had been done to my paintings in some way. They'd come back a few days later and point it out, asking if they could have it at a discount."
"And did you allow them to have it at a discounted price?"
Ari nodded slightly, seemingly a bit remorseful.
"I did, I felt like something was wrong with them but I wanted to sell my paintings, and I knew he had a good reputation. I was hoping he'd spread the word and bring me in more customers."
Kira frantically wrote down information before looking back up at Ari.
"What do you mean you knew something was off?"
Ari wrung her hands together, glancing around nervously.
"Well, it was more my assistant noticed. The first time they even started showing up he told me something was wrong, I should've just trusted him more I guess."
"And what's your assistants name?"
Ari gave a slightly confused look, flattening her dress out and looking down.
"Jay Allen."
"Alright, now back to my other question. Why did you decide to come here tonight Ms. Smith?"
"Well, I wanted to look around and check if any of my paintings were actually here and intact. I knew that if I did find them I could possibly sue Zakou and get back all the money I figuratively lost."
"Right, and your assistant? Jay, where was he tonight?"
"Family. He couldn't come because of them, he's with his sister across town."
Kira nodded slowly, thinking for a moment before looking up at Ari.
"We'll have to bring him in for questioning tonight, could you give me his number and his sisters house address?"
Ari nodded, quickly rattling off the information before stopping Kira with the questions.
"I uh, just wanted to point out. Axel, the boy in the blue out there, he was almost always seen with Zakou, I think he played a big part in scamming me." She informed the detective quietly, shifting her feet in nervousness.
"Alright, now, next question."
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Unedited
Word Count: 553
Hi! First off, sorry I missed yesterdays update, I slept for 15 hours... whoops. But it's here now! Second, THANK YALL FOR OVER 150 READS! Im really grateful for everyone reading!!
With that said, I hope you enjoyed, make sure to vote and comment your thoughts! :)
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Panic Room
HorrorZakou went rigid in his seat, pain twisting in his stomach as he felt bile rising up in his throat. He coughed, doubling over in pain as he wiped his mouth, the dim light revealing dark red blood. "Poison..." He mumbled, seeing his now spilled drink...
